Tipping the Scales
by Nephlyn
Summary: AU, There are consequences to living by the saying "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." especially when your nemesis tags along for the ride. Taking a page from a certain tactician's book, Grima is prepared to do what must be done to ensure this time the deck is stacked in the Fell Dragon's favor.


"I shall tell you a story."

Grima looms over him wearing his wife's body using inhuman strength to keep him pinned to the dusty stone floor and they are utterly alone.

"This is not the first time Naga has sought to foil my resurrection by sending the children back. It is not even the tenth time. Neither of us is able to defeat the other and so the emblem is completed and she spins time back for another try. We repeat this struggle fruitlessly."

Chrom's breath came out in harsh pants unable to do more than weakly thrash in Grima's grip.

"Much like you do against me right now. Yet with each timeline, each lifetime I've been learning... I now know why I ultimately fail to regain my true power. Even after I regain my Heart I have remained divided. Do you know why?"

He glared at her remaining stubbornly silent, laying there attempting to rally his strength while Grima seemed content in trying to talk him to death.

"You die. Sometimes by her hand but often before you are even able to face Validar in battle here at the Dragon's Table. And my Heart closes herself off from me in her rage and grief. She will cling stubbornly to the memory of you and thwart my every effort."

Sorrow, pride, triumph welled up in him yet they quickly faded into dread with Grima's next words.

"In vain. Not enough to spare the worlds she loves for your sake. No enough to save the futures you had sought to protect. I was furious. I could not understand why she stood against me for the sake of one dead man. One mortal man whose lifespan is barely longer than a blink compared to our own."

Grima's gaze grew distant and thoughtful.

"I tried to force her to submit to me, yet I should have known that was foolish. What part of me would ever submit to another through force? I tried to make her understand why human bonds were so pointless. Know this, Chrom, my Heart has jealously guarded her memories from me in all timelines. She will go so far as to destroy the ones she cannot keep from me."

She back down looked down at him, all six eyes focused on him.

"Thus it was surprising when she showed me them. The short six years that span the entirety of her memory and through it all, you are never far from sight nor mind. I could not make her understand me, yet I finally came to understand her."

A violent chill swept down his spine.

"It's simple truly. I shall give my Heart the one thing she desires above all else."

Chrom strained in her hold growling out, "And what is that exactly?!"

"You." He abruptly stilled at the admission. "All I have to do is give her you... and we shall be whole again. No longer divided against ourselves."

"I am hers as she is mine. You cannot give her what she already has." The contempt in his voice spoke volumes.

"Does she? Here you are and you continue to fight against me."

"I fight you, Grima, not Robin. She does not want this!" He threw himself into the struggle once more, trying to break a hand free and wrap it around Grima's lying throat. "She would not forsake the world! Not our friends, our family! Never would she abandon her children!" He drew strength from the words, keeping in mind his wife was trapped within this creature and these were not her words.

"The world that hates her, the comrades that distrust her, a daughter that rejects her. Are you so sure?"

He opened his mouth to refute those claims but the look akin to sorrow silenced him.

"She has forgiven it but she remembers the Shepherds' first reaction to her connection to me. She forgives yet does not forget that her daughter came with sword in hand seeking to plunge it into the heart that loved her."

With each of Grima's words his efforts to free himself weaken as a terrible foreboding settled over him.

"She knows how you fought for your Shepherds to accept her, that the circumstances of her birth should not be held against her when they owe her so much and that she has proven herself beyond all doubt. That it was her hand that had guided them through two wars. That they all yet live to denounce her."

Doubt began to take root and blossom. His mind unwillingly flit back to how withdrawn and subdued she had become since the revelation of her origins. Shying away from their friends whom in turn avoided her. Even the ones he thought her closest with.

"She watched when you drew your sword to deflect the killing blow your daughter would have struck and commanded her to stand down. And she did. Unwillingly and only by your word."

Only he and Morgan approached her anymore... Chrom had been glad that Lucina stayed away because he had to watch to see if she was going to raise her hand again to the woman that bore her into the world.

With these thoughts in mind, his eyes grew wide as realization finally took hold. Grima was not feeding him poisoned lies but offering him Robin's bitter truth.

"Ah... you see it now?" She caressed his face gently, lovingly as Robin had countless time before. "How can she love the world that shuns her at every turn?"

Above him Grima continued to speak, blind to his turmoil and Chrom only wanted to weep. This was not the result of Robin's weakness or Grima's overwhelming power. This was the bounty that the world would reap for loss of the bonds of love and friendship Robin had so treasured. He raged for a moment. Of course, she would fall if all that supported her was torn away! No one else had kept faith in her, save him and their son, so how could she keep any in herself?!

As swiftly as the anger came it left leaving him feeling hollowed by the loss. It was all pointless at this point and far too late to change anything. He was exhausted and just wished Grima would have the decency to kill him already instead of droning on and on.

"-yet my foolish Heart yearns for you still. Will you also abandon her?"

Chrom lay limp and unresisting beneath her. Tiredly breathing the words out, "How can I abandon her when she has left me? Only you and I are here, Grima, my wife is nowhere to be found."

Grima gave him a very unimpressed look as though he had just missed the point. "We are separate still, Two when we are meant to be One. You can change that."

He was going to regret this but with his heart already so heavy with regret, what was little more? "...How?" 

* * *

When Chrom wakes next the first thing he notices is that he feels like he has grown too large for his skin but even as the thought crosses his mind the sensation fades. The next is that he seemed to have ended up as the 'little spoon' again.

He gave a low fond chuckle. If he didn't make sure to hold her while they slept he would inevitably end up the one being held. She was pressed against his back, her arms wrapped around him, her legs tangled with his and her wings draped over them. He stroked the feathered wing closest to him content to bask in the moment.

Yet now that he was more awake he frowned tensing in her hold when he could feel her exhaustion and weakness through their bond. His mind automatically reacted reaching out to see if she was being guarded before relaxing with relief. There were more Risen surrounding them than he could remember gathering in one area before. However...

Chrom rolled his eyes in exasperation. They weren't organized properly, the sheer number of them would likely be enough to deal with intruders but... Robin was so vulnerable right now. He slowly worked his way out of her embrace. That was likely why they were so haphazardly placed, she herself had never let him hear the end of it when he'd gotten sloppy with patrols and camp security. Thankfully he could fix this himself and perhaps tease her a bit when she woke.

After covering her with a robe he paused wondering what he would wear looking at his previous clothing with mild distaste. He shook his head then shadows slithered over him for a brief moment before he felt the weight of his armor settle on him. Truly he must still be half asleep himself if he had forgotten that he only need his armor and he would have it.

Chrom walked further from the pile of discarded clothes before bending down to grab the sword that lay carelessly exposed on the ground and tucked Naga's cursed Falchion into the empty sheath he wore to better guard it from those that would seek to use it against his wife before summoning his own blade.

Really. With such a scatter brained general was it any wonder the soldiers were out of order? He'd have to be better about that while Robin was resting. It would be a shame for her have to wake before she regained her strength just to deal with some nuisance that could have been dealt with otherwise.

After all the sooner she could recover the sooner they could go collect their children. 

* * *

Ever since the disaster at the Dragon's Table Morgan has wandered through the camp as little more than a phantom.

They say Mother revealed her true colors, killed Father and betrayed them all. Even after Father had fought so earnestly for them to trust in her and in the bonds they had made.

He is given suspicious looks and dark glares. He may have his father's blue hair but they only see that he still wears his mother's robe. Lucina acts as though he does not even exist when he does try to approach her. So he can't even ask if she is having the same dreams too.

Dreams of the desert and their parent's voices in the wind. Calling for him. To come home.

The compulsion to leave grows stronger and stronger the longer he is ostracized from the group he had once thought of as an extended family.  
Time passes in a gray haze and by the time he leaves it's been three weeks and he moves as if in a trance. Day and night lose meaning as he follows the pull leading him closer and closer to home.

When he approaches he sees the swarming Risen but doesn't do more than acknowledge their existence. He knows they won't harm him continuing to walk further in. Father meets him at the entrance wearing unfamiliar armor but that is the last thing to cross this mind before he is swept up in a joyful embrace and reality reasserts itself on contact.

"Morgan! I'm glad to see you! Your mother and I thought we would have to come get you."

"Dad, you're alive! I knew it! I knew they were wrong! Mother would never hurt you!" His smile is so wide it's almost painful but it's good to be able to smile for such a great reason.

"Of course I am. Why would Robin hurt me? The only time she has ever hurt me was..." Even behind the high collar Morgan could see Father blush. "Well let's just say when your mother throws a soap dish at you, you duck." He set Morgan back down and took hold of his hand, "Now let's not dawdle outside. The heat is unpleasant and your mother is waiting inside."

As they walked deeper into the Table they passed many more Risen and Morgan finally had to ask his father the question that had been bothering since he had walked in unharmed.

"Hey, Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Why aren't the Risen attacking us?"

"They are under the control of your mother and I. In fact, I imagine your mother could show you how to control them yourself. How I do it is a bit different."

"Oh." Morgan pondered that for a moment coming to several conclusions before verbalizing the most irreverent one. "I can't wait to see what sort of army I can summon!"

Chrom reached over with his free hand to ruffle his hair. "I'm going to have to watch you extra carefully to make you don't summon something you can't control, aren't I?

"Daaaaaaad!"

Soft amused laughter filled the air and Morgan froze staring at the source.

"Welcome home, Morgan. We've missed you." She held her arms open waiting for him.

"Mother!" He broke away from father and made to leap into mother's embrace yet right before he could father plucked him out of the air.

"Now, now. None of that just yet. You're still not at your best, Robin, and I don't think one of Morgan's infamous flying tackle hugs is exactly safe at the moment." Chrom was treated to two identical pouts setting Morgan down in front of Robin. "You'll have to make due with a regular standing hug just this once."

She crushed Morgan to her chest, "Such a spoilsport Chrom. I bet you picked him up, twirled him and everything."

Father took that moment to become fascinated with the fit of his gloves. While Morgan felt giddy, here he was hugging Mother while she and Father battered. He couldn't stop himself from joining in, all but vibrating with joy. "Hah hah, you got it right, Mother! I thought I was going to get dizzy we spun so fast!"

She snickered, "You don't say?" Sighing into his hair she released him, "You don't know just how happy we are that you are here with us Morgan... We were so worried. As it is we're still incomplete."

"Huh?"

"Did you forget Morgan?"

"Umm...?"

Father gave him a small nudge saving him, "You are a big brother in this time."

"Litte Lucina!"

Mother smiled brightly, "Mmm Hmm. We just need to get your little sister back and our family will be complete again. Won't that be wonderful?"

Morgan gazed at his parents with a careful tactician's eye noted the differences in them. Father stood closer to Mother and it seemed as though the worry and stress that bore down on him constantly had vanished. And Mother... Mother looked so happy and at peace, he'd never seen her like that. There were other more physical differences but they weren't the important changes. Not to Morgan anyway.

He pumped his fist in the air, "Yeah! We can't let our family be kept apart!" 

* * *

A/N : I'm trying my hand at writing again and well this is the first thing I've managed to complete. Blame the plot bunnies I get every time I see the Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE images of Chrom.  
I think there is going to be tears in my future... Also, I guess let me know what you think? I know it is awkward at spots but I had to stop poking at it. I had originally finished this at just over 1,200 words and it has since then doubled and grown slightly with each revision.  
So I leave you with this ending and all the really, really bad implications of it. And just one little thing to think on. Grima for all the grandstanding still managed to not take everything into account... Doesn't mean the world is going to survive this family, though.


End file.
